The Ohio State University Marching Band just got THE COOLEST surprise from Tom Cruise. Yeah... that Tom Cruise!
Let's back up. The Ohio State Marching Band- "The Best Damn Band In The Land," or "TBDBITL"- always has AMAZING halftime shows. Full disclosure... I grew up in Columbus and am a massive fan of Ohio State football anyway, but I also grew up playing saxophone and loved loved LOVED anytime I would get to see TBDBITL perform. Even though they are all brass and have no saxophones in their band, there is something so incredibly awesome and awe-inspiring about watching them. They are truly the epitome of marching bands and while my high school band DID have saxophones and woodwinds (shoutout Dublin Coffman!), we strived to be just like Ohio State, right down to our similar uniforms. We even did "Script "Dublin," a perfect imitation of the OSU tradition of "Script Ohio." And yes, a sousaphone always "dotted the i" in Dublin, just like OSU with Ohio!
On November 13th, Purdue came to Ohio Stadium to take on the Buckeyes and TBDBITL put on another stellar halftime show, this time performing music from the movie Top Gun. They opened with a perfect Top Gun logo, and the show just got more awesome from there, as they performed hit from the movie including "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins, Berlin's "Take My Breath Away," "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers, and more while marching into forms including a fighter jet, a pair of aviators (Tom Cruise?), hearts, a parachute, and words like "Maverick" and "Danger."
The performance was so great, that it indeed got the attention of Maverick himself! Tom Cruise surprised the band with a note praising them, Top Gun Maverick shirts for all of the band members, and he invited them to be his special guest at a special, private screening of Top Gun Maverick in Columbus this spring. He also wished Ohio State best of luck in the Rose Bowl.
Take My Breath Away INDEED!
Here's the performance...
... here's TBDITL finding out about their surprise...
... and here's Tom Cruise retweeting TBDITL's tweet with an extra "good luck at the Rose Bowl!"
O-H!